Monday, November 30, 2009

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Ours was great and I am back to share a great cookies recipe with you. I found this recipe at Barbara Bakes and I had a ton of snickers left from Halloween so I decided to whip these up. They were so great!!!Snickers Peanut Butter Cookies adapted from Barbara bakes1 cup butter1 cup sugar1 cup brown sugar1 cup peanute butter2 eggs1 tsp vanilla3 cups flour2 tsp baking soda1 cup peanut butter chips1 cup milk chocolate chips1 bag mini or fun size snickers(I used fun size and cut them in half)Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter, sugars, and peanut butter till creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour and soda and mix well. Stir in the peanut butter and chocolate chips. Roll dough into balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Press a snickers into the top of each cookie. or you can place the snickers in the center of a ball of dough. Flatten the ball of dough with hand or fork and bake for 10 minutes.

Friday, November 20, 2009

So do you ever wonder what to do with leftover baked potatoes? I always seem to make more than we eat so this is a easy recipe to use up those extra potatoes. I guess it is more of a method than a recipe. It doesn't require you to be a great cook to make these either. Simple and yummy. You really can add any meat (sausage, bacon, ham) you like or any veggies such as onions, peppers, or garlic to it as well. I usually add the onions, garlic, and peppers but I was in a hurry last night so I just used what I had on hand to make it fast.Fried Potatoes with Ham1-2 T. olive oil4-5 baked potatoes,skin removed and diced1/2 -1lb diced ham, sausage, or baconSalt and pepper to tastediced onion, bell peppers, and garlic if desired1/2 -1 cup shredded cheeseHeat the oil in a skillet over medium high to high heat. Add the desiered meat and cook until browned and cooked through if using bacon or sausage. Add the onion or pepper if using them and cook until tender. add the cooked potatoes, salt and pepper and cook until potatoes begin to brown. Sprinkle with cheese and let the cheese melt. Then serve and enjoy!! We eat them with salsa or hot sauce and the kids like ketchup on theirs. These are good for breakfast as well. Just make them your own!!!

Monday, November 16, 2009

So I know most of you probably have a recipe for these but I wanted to post them anyway. My family and I love these and they are so easy and they are great if you need to take something for a party. You can make a big batch in a cookie sheet or half a batch for a 9x13 inch pan. They are great for putting in your kids' lunches as well.Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats(for a large cookie sheet)Half the recipe for 9x132 cups sugar2 cups karo syrup2 cups peanut butter13-14 cups rice krispies1 pkg milk chocolate chips1 pkg butterscotch chips

In a saucepan, bring the sugar and karo syrup to a boil over meduim heat. As soon as it starts to boil remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth. In a large bowl combine the rice krispies and the peanut butter mixture until well combined. Spread into a greased large cookie sheet. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and butterscotch chips over the rice krispies and place under the broiler in the oven until the chips are glossy. Take out and spread all over with a knife. YOu can always add more chips if you want more chocolate on top. I do that sometimes. Remember to watch them closely while under the broiler you don't want the chips to burn just get glossy and melted looking. Should only take a minute or so. Let them cool then cut and enjoy!!!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Do you need a different way to use up those old bananas and you are sick of plain old banana bread? Then you should give these a whirl. They were really good. They are not that great for you but you can substitute no sugar all natural applesauce in place of the water and oil. I think next time I am going to do this but if you want a sweet treat with the calories then leave in the oil. These were so easy to throw together. My kids loved them.

Banana Toffee Cupcakes1 box yellow cake mix1/3 cup water(or applesauce)1/3 cup vegetable oil (or applesauce)1 tsp almond extract3 eggs1 cup mashed bananas(2 medium)1-1 1/2 cups toffee bitsHeat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper baking cup in a muffin tin and spray them with cooking spray. In a large bowl, beat the cake mix, water, oil, almond extract, and eggs with a mixer on low speed 30 seconds then beat on hig for 2 minutes. Add bananas and beat until smooth. Stir in 1 cup toffee bits. Divide batter evenly into lined muffin tins. Sprinkle top of each muffin with additional toffee bits. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove immediately from pan so they can cool.Note: I baked my at 320 for about 16-17 minutes. My oven runs warmer than most so adjust yours to how you oven cooks.

This a process but I will take you through it step by step. First you need a bunch of dried red chilies. YOu can buy them at any grocery store in the Mexican food section. They come in a plastic package next to the corn husks you can buy for making tamales. They are dark red in color. YOu want to wash them, take the stems off and shake out as much of the seeds as you can. Then place them in a large pot with the onion and garlic. Bring it to a boil and boil for 30 minutes or until the chilies are tender like this:

As you boil them they lighten in color. Drain all the water off of them. Then place them in a blender in batches adding fresh warm water from the tap until it is smooth and the desired consistency you want. Here are some chilies in the blender with water before blending them up:I don't measure the water because I just add more until it is the consistency that I want. I usually almost cover the chilies with water. Sometimes I have to add more. Blend really well. Then if you have a mesh strainer(it works better than a regular plastic one) dump the pureed chilies into the strainer that has a pot under it to catch the sauce like so:Stir around with the spoon till most of the sauce goes through the strainer into the pot. Straining it gets the rest of the seeds out of the sauce and some of the hard skins that don't blend well. You will have leftover mushy stuff that won't go through the strainer and throw that away. Continues this process until all the chilies are pureed and have been strained. The sauce in the pot should look like this when you are done straining it:Place on the stove add 3 tsp chicken bouillon and salt to taste. It usually takes a lot of salt you will just have to taste until you have the right saltyness for your taste buds. bring it to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour. Then use the sauce however you like. For enchiladas or to have a smothered burrito.

For those of you who don't know my husband grew up in Mexico. So we all love authentic mexican food and you cannot get anything like it at a restaurant if you ask me. We always make it at home. My husband, his mother and their little mexican maid taught me how to make all the mexican food I make. It is a process to make homemade enchilada sauce from scratch but it is so worth it!! I always make a really big batch of it and then freeze it so I have it on hand later on to use when I am in a hurry and don't have time to make sauce.There are many ways you can actually put the enchiladas together. Depending on my mood determine which way I do it. You can layer the corn tortillas one on top of each other and pour sauce and cheese over each layer, you can roll a tortilla up with shredded pork chicken, or beef and put them in a pan then pour the sauce and cheese over the top and bake them till bubbly and cheese is melted or you can do it like the picture below and cut the tortillas in squares and mix them with sauce and cheese and put more cheese on top and bake in the oven until bubbly and warm. Serve with a side of beans and spanish rice. I have a recipe here for those.

Enchilada Sauce

Dried red chilies~however many you want depending on how much sauce you want to make but I reccomend at least three packages.

Monday, November 2, 2009

I love anything cheesecake and when I saw these over at Coleen's Recipes I knew I had to try them out. These were so easy but so yummy and they taste like you spent more time than you actually did on them. If you like cheesecake give these a whirl plus it is way easier to make cheesecake bars than an actually cheesecake.Toffee Chip Cheesecake Bars1 1/4 cup flour1 cup powdered sugar1/2 cup baking cocoa1/4 tsp baking soda3/4 cup cold butter1 (8 oz) pkg softened cream cheese1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk2 eggs1 tsp vanilla1 1/2 cups toffee bitsCombine flour, powdered sugar, baking cocoa, and baking soda. Cut in butter until it is crumbly. Press firmly in the bottom of and ungreased 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese until fluffy, Add the sweetened condensed milk and mix well. Then add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. Stir in 1 cup of toffee bits and pour this mixture over the hot crust. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until set and the very edges just start to turn golden. Cool 10 minutes and then sprinke remaining toffee bits on top. Cool completely and refrigerate until cold. Store in the Fridge. Note: I also drizzled caramel over it when I ate a piece and let me tell you amazing!! Just for a little added topping!!!

Sorry for so many sweet treats. I will be back with a main dish to share in a few days!!!